Wéris Megalithic Field
Mégalithes de Wéris · Wéris Dolmens
Late Neolithic (3200–2500 BCE)·Seine-Oise-Marne (SOM) — Atlantic Neolithic·🇧🇪 Luxembourg Province, Wallonia, Belgium
About
About Wéris Megalithic Field
Concentrated group of two gallery dolmens (Wéris I and Oppagne), three menhir fields and the Danthine and Oppagne stone alignments on a 8 km ridge near Wéris in the Ardennes. Built of locally rare puddingstone conglomerate transported from outcrops around Morville, the megaliths (c.3100–3000 BCE) form one of Belgium's largest Neolithic monuments, associated with the Seine-Oise-Marne culture. The field is preserved in the Musée des Mégalithes and reveals long-distance stone transport by farming communities.
Why it mattersKey Seine-Oise-Marne (SOM) — Atlantic Neolithic site in Luxembourg Province, Wallonia.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Source of puddingstone slabs transported 3–7 km
- 02Astronomical alignment with solstice?
Theories
- 01Territorial markers for SOM farming communities
- 02Collective burial chambers for lineage elites
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3100–3000 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic (3200–2500 BCE)
- Culture
- Seine-Oise-Marne (SOM) — Atlantic Neolithic
- Purpose
- Gallery dolmens and menhir alignments in megalithic field
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.3100–3000 BCE
Construction of Wéris dolmens and alignments by SOM groups
1888
First scientific description by A. de Loë; classified as monuments
On the ground
Structures & features
50.3260° N · 5.5310° E · 280 m · 2 mapped features
Dolmen Wéris I (Allée couverte de Wéris)
dolmen6.1 m gallery grave with antechamber, puddingstone orthostats and two capstones, collective burials
50.3268° N · 5.5315° EAlignement de Danthine
alignmentThree standing puddingstone menhirs in row south of Wéris I, ~9 m alignment
50.3248° N · 5.5285° E